Brand new to casting. So new, in fact that

[TexasJeff]

I haven't even bought my equipment yet.

I've been reloading for better than twenty years now, used to do a lot of competition shooting, and now that I'm older, I'm starting to find a little more time on my hands.

The whole casting thing has been slowly picking away at me for the past ten years, and now it has bit and dug in. Hence, I joined this forum. My contribution to help fund and maintain the site will be headed your way shortly.

I ordered the Lyman casting book as a starting point/point of initial reference. I plan on reading it and asking a number of questions before melting my first ingot I'm also thinking about picking up The Art of Bullet Casting by Dave Wolfe.

Problem is, my daddy reloaded and I would often watch and help him. Everyone in our IPSC club reloaded, so I had lots of help a couple of decades ago to mentor me and kind of watch over my shoulder to make sure I didn't do anything stupid as a result of simply not knowing any better.

I don't know anyone who casts their own bullets here in North Texas--yet, I'm sure there are. Thus, I'm wanting to get some good reference materials handy and read so I'll know what questions to ask.

Anyhow, am absolutely looking forward to getting started.

Jeff

[Swamprat1052]

Jeff, just spend lots of time on this site. I was in the same boat you are a year or so ago and I am 55 yrs old. I guess you can teach an old dawg new tricks. I just hung out here and asked a lot of questions. These guys will help you any way they can. I dont know it all but I am casting boolits and shooting them. I warn you though, its addictive.

Where are you in North Texas? I stomped around Northeast Texas for about 30 yrs myself. Looking forward to coming back one of these days.

[dromia]

Hi Jeff

welcome to the forums.

The lads here will have you sorted in no time.

Your going the right way getting as much background information as possible.

You'll know when its time to spend some dosh and melt some lead. :-D

I've been casting for well over 30 years but after having been here a couple of years I'm beginning to feel I now know a little on the subject.

[TexasJeff]

I fully figure that this will be addicting--reloading quickly became that way. What my wife and I like about the idea of casting is the added "self-sufficiency" element it brings to our firearms ownership. We stockpile primers and powder--be nice to have a good stockpile of bullets as well.

We're certainly not "end of the world" types--we both know better. I'm an ex LEO and she's an ex-reporter. We've seen enough.

BUT, we never trust politicians and we got a doozy of an election coming up this November. Combined with our festivities over in Sandland, and bullet/cartridge components ain't getting easier--or cheaper--to be had.

Thus, the added "self-sufficiency" aspect.

Plus, it just sounds like plain ol' FUN.

We live north of Dallas.

Jeff

[Jon K]

Hi Jeff,


Jeff,
Welcome aboard................you say it's been picking at you for 10 years, well wait till you try it, the grin will be unbearable when you drop that first bright shining boolit, let alone, load and shoot them knowing they are YOURS. You're already hooked, soon to be addicted.

Hopefully someone here close to you can help you get started with some hands on. Ask lots of questions and experiment a lot.


Jon

[Kraschenbirn]

Welcome, Jeff..

Just drag up a rock and join in the merriment. One warning, though...cast boolits can be highly addictive. I'd been reloading and doing a bit of casting, off and on, for close to forty years when I wandered in looking for a some tips on blackpowder reloading for recently acquired Trapdoor Springfield. Over the last year, the insidious influence of this group has caused me to acquire not only another BP cartridge rifle - a (repro) Hi-Wall in .38-55 - but also a couple additional milsurps, and add a small assortment of rifle-caliber moulds to my collection shooting/reloading hardware.

Bill

[2400]

Welcome to the forum, glad you're here! [smilie=s:


















Don't forget the new guy buys cigars.

[9.3X62AL]

Welcome to the asylum, Jeff--yer bunk is top rack, southwest corner of the dormitory.

Good mode of operation you've developed, and my old mentor had me buy the Lyman manual first--read it--then come to him with questions as I got started. When I got under way in casting there were still a few of the Old School pistol shooters and casters active in the hobby (c. 1980), and Leo was one such friend. God rest his soul.

Some might think or say that mysticism and incantations are required to yield good boolits--not so at all. Yes, our Buckshot insists on casting in summer uniform--campaign hat, jockstrap, and huaraches--but one visit from the Tinsel Fairy will cure him of THAT fashion statement. I should add that I have never seen Buckshot so attired when running the pot--this method has only been self-reported, but the mental pictures so evoked were sufficiently disquieting.

Our way of doing bizness here is ''THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DUMB QUESTION". Every one of us was new to this hobby at some point in our casting hobby, no one was born with the knowledge.

[Lloyd Smale]

threres no rocket science to basic casting. Youll be making decent bullets the first day if you read the book and follow the basics outlined in it. I think youll find that very few people here had mentors.

[TexasJeff]

Our way of doing bizness here is ''THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DUMB QUESTION". Every one of us was new to this hobby at some point in our casting hobby, no one was born with the knowledge.

Well, I sure appreciate that.

I try to bring in at least one new shooter per month into the fold of gun owners. More gun owners and shooters we have, the less the anti-gunners have. Each new shooter gets a one-year NRA membership that my wife and I pay for--and I make that a non-negotiable contigency.

One reason I do that is because while we don't have children, a lot of the new shooters I end up mentoring/instructing either have kids or grandkids. SAFETY is normally their number one concern. Now I can get them the Eddie Eagle materials. (Could probablly do it as a non-member, but . . .)

SAFETY is the prime consideration for me in shooting. Let's face it: We're dealing iwth small explosive projectiles in our reloading world. There are some common sense safety issues, and then there are things that a novice to reloading may not know because the safety issue is not always readily apparent.

That's why I want to read first, ask questions second and then try my hand with actual melted lead third.

Older I get, I either get smarter or more chicken.

I'm also gonna re-up my subscription to Handloader magazine.

My contribution to help maintain the site will go out in this week's mail.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. I hope that down the road, I will be able to reciprocate the help and support I get here.

Jeff

[mooman76]

Wecome the the Board! Don't forget the #1 cardinal rule and you will be ok. Water and molten lead don't mix. You will get an explosition like you wouldn't believe!

[crowbeaner]

Hehehe; we got another one! Welcome to the Grand Obsession. May your moulds stay hot and your drinks be cold. The Lyman book is a good place to start, and many of the members here have an extensive working knowledge of metallurgy and machining. If in doubt, ask questions and we will do our best to answer them. May your newfound affliction be pleasant. CB.

[crabo]

Start collecting wheel weights. You will want more than you need. Without the raw material, all of the education becomes worthless. If you start reading the threads, you will start to see different patterns emerging. There will be different brands of equipment and molds cussed and discussed. Also read a lot of the stickies at the start of the different sections.

I'm probably not too far from you and when you get ready to try some casting, pm me and you can come over and cast some and see what it's all about.

What calibers are you going to want to cast for? What do you want to do with the bullets? compete, hunt,....?

Crabo

[danski26]

Welcome aboard shipmate.

[454PB]

Another welcome, Jeff.

I really like your attitude about safety. I raised two kids, and taught both to shoot at an early age. Safety was pounded into them at every opportunity.

My son is now an avid shooter/hunter/reloader, and I've recently got him into casting. He watched me cast for years when he was a kid, and never took any interest until he bought a Ruger Bisley Hunter and a Marlin 45/70. Once he bought a few hundred bullets for those, he had a sudden interest.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I started casting about 16 years ago. I loved to shoot my 586 S & W 6" and I did not like the cost of boolits. Even buying them (boolits only) from Midway was expensive. I consider paying $.045 too much.

I quickly figured out that I could make my own for about $.02 a round if I used wheelweights and cast my own. [smilie=1:I ordered a couple of 6 Banger Lee molds from Midway and a Lee Pro 4-20 furnace. I have never looked back. :drinks:

I now have about 20 molds or so and a second Lee 4-20. I have 15 gallons of ingots in the back yard and probably 5K boolits in the house all awaiting assembly into complete rounds.

I have about 20K primers and at least 25 lbs of powder also hanging around. Sombody gifted me with a Dillon 550 press and all the goodies and I got rid of the Lee Loadmaster.

I have went out and got molds for which I had not a gun. Then I got the gun to fit the mold. It's crazy. I gave up golf and my guitars just to mess with boolits, smelting, molding and all. It is an addiction but I love it. :castmine:

I started out casting to save money and now I spend about 2K a years on gun related stuff. :mrgreen:

Now I am looking to buy a safe for my 7 handguns and 5 long guns. It is crazy. I just picked up a Baker side by side 12 gauge and a 30-30 94 Winchester (1929) for two hundred beacause I learned how to shoot with a Baker (My Dad's) and the 94 (My grandads's) I bought these only because of the happy memories associated with them. Now if I could only find that old Savage .22 Bolt Action that I fired thousands of rounds out of I could really be happy.:-D

I fell into love with a custom 6.5 x 55 MM Sweede and then fell harder for a Belgain Browning 35 9MM in mint condition. I gave up on the Sweede:( and I have about 1K into the Browning now. It is addictive and a lot of fun. ]

I learned more about casting here in 18 months than the previous 14.5 years.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride....it never ends.

[EMC45]

These guys and Gal (Oldfart) are awesome. Never fail to offer advice and will steer you in the right direction. Welcome Sirs.

[TexasJeff]

Start collecting wheel weights. You will want more than you need.

I've got a source that will provide me with all the used wheel weights I can haul in my Chevy pickup truck. On The High Road, I was asking some basic, beginner questions about "how do you clean up the lead, etc" and started getting my most basic education from some casters over there (who also recommended this site).

I always knew that I'd want to read up on the basics before firing up a furnace and trying it firsthand, but after having asked a few basic questions on THR, I knew beyond a doubt that I'd need to do some serious reading.


I'm probably not too far from you and when you get ready to try some casting, pm me and you can come over and cast some and see what it's all about.

We're in between Lake Grapevine and Lake Lewisville. Easy enough for me to get on a main road to get anywhere I need to fairly hassle free.

I keep odd, always changing schedules so shoot me a PM and we can trade e-mail/phone numbers. Also, I'm no freeloader--so if you invite me over to see what casting is all about, name your favorite BBQ joint and lunch is on me.


What calibers are you going to want to cast for? What do you want to do with the bullets? compete, hunt,....?

Crabo

Initially, I want to cast .38 spcl wadcutters and semi-wadcutters along with 158 grain RN, .44 spcl semi-wadcutters and .45 acp 230 RN. The main shooting I do these days is strictly pleasure shooting at a range. I'm slowly getting back into hunting but have a lot of surplus ammo from back in my younger days.

Thanks for the offer to give me a firsthand look at casting. It is very much appreciated.

Jeff